Victor Berard. "England and Imperialism". Paris, 1900. (381 pp.)

From a cursory examination it is evident that this little book amounts to something like a collection of newspaper articles: journalism that is lively, extremely lively, but extraordinarily superficial. A narrative, chatter, nothing more. "Joseph Chamberlain" — the first chapter. Quotations from his speeches, his career, his fame etc. etc. "Imperialism" — the second chapter (or section: there is neither a "chapter" heading nor numbering of them), likewise a "newspaper" little narrative: "Markets, markets," a host of examples and figures (on the decline of English trade etc.) from the "blue books," but all of this fragmentary, feuilleton-like, and after Hobson and Schulze-Gaevernitz it is something like a gymnasium exercise book... The same with German competition and so forth and so on. Nil. Nil.

There are perhaps a couple of examples which might prove useful:

From the arguments against imperialism:

"These very statistical data further show that the occupation of some territory by His Majesty's troops is often advantageous only to foreigners and very little to British subjects: in Egypt after 1881 only German and Belgian trade actually increased: English product imports into Egypt 1870 — 8726 thousand pounds sterling; 1880 — 3060; 1892 — 3192; 1897 — 4435, whereas German imports from 21000 pounds (Egyptian = 25 francs 60) in 1886 reached 281000 in 1896, and Belgian imports during the same period rose from 86000 to 458000 pounds" (p. 249).

"After France invented sugar from beets, she became the leading power in the world in the sugar industry: in 1870 she still possessed the monopoly. Then Germany took it up. Having investigated and compared French cultivation methods, she established that, like northern France, she had suitable soil and suitable climate near the coalfields. But her soil was less fertile; her climate was considerably harsher. The struggle with the French would, therefore, be highly unequal. However, beginning in 1882, French sugar manufacturers began to cry out:
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NOTEBOOK "γ" ("GAMMA")

German sugar is penetrating even into the French market..., German beets yield 12% sugar by weight; French planters claim that they cannot yield more than 7%" — the Germans transformed agriculture, fertilizers, selection etc. etc.

"Within twelve years of German competition, France, the discoverer of beets, had lost the revenue from her discovery. Her law of 1884 on sugar was dictated to her by the scientific experience of Germany, which henceforth became the queen of sugar and, moreover, the queen of alcohol" (pp. 311-312).

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The book is dated at the end: November 1898-April 1900.